Articles
Published 2019-11-01
Keywords
- Argumento Causal,
- Completitud de la FÃsica,
- Consciencia,
- Fisicalismo,
- Libet
- Causal Argument,
- Completeness of Physics,
- Consciousness,
- Physicalism,
- Libet
Abstract
In this article, I critically address David Papineau’s assertion that accumulated physiological evidence is sufficient to reasonably adopt the principle of the Causal Closure of the Physical and the via negativa, viz. to understand “physical” as “non-mental”, as a solution to Hempel’s dilemma. We will start lowering the strength of his view by reviewing the work of W. Penfield and J. Eccles, two important neurophysiologists and declared dualists. However, we will then focus on the work of B. Libet in which it is purportedly shown that voluntary movements are really determined by entirely (neuro)physiological causes, which would constitute a fundamental piece of evidence in favour of Papineau. Our analysis will reveal that such conclusions do not follow. This will have negative consequences for the Causal Closure Principle and to the Causal Argument for Physicalism of which the aforementioned principle is a key premise.
References
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Dennett, D. (2003), Freedom Evolves, Nueva York, Viking Penguin.
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Eccles, J. (1985), “Mental Summation: The Timing of Voluntary Intentions by Cortical Activity”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8 (4), pp. 542-543, doi:10.1017/S0140525X00044952
Ellis, G., Murphy, N. y O’Connor, T. (2009), Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will, Nueva York, Springer.
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Fuster, J. (2015), The Prefrontal Cortex, Londres, Academic Press (Elsevier), 5ª ed.
Gazzaniga, M. (1998), The Mind’s Past, Berkeley, University of California Press.
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Kim, J. (2005), Physicalism, or Something near Enough, Princeton, Princeton University Press.
Koch, C. (2012), Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist, Massachusetts, The MIT Press.
Lau, H. (2009), “Volition and the Function of Consciousness”, en Ellis, G., Murphy, N. y O’Connor, T. (eds.) (2009), Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will, Nueva York. Springer, pp.173-186.
Libet, B. (1985), “Unconscious Cerebral Initiative and the Role of Conscious Will in Voluntary Action”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8, pp. 529-566.
Libet, B. (1999), “Do We Have Free Will?”, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6 (8-9), pp. 47-57.
Libet, B. (2002), “The Timing of Mental Events: Libet’s Experimental Findings and their Implications”, Consciousness and Cognition, 11, pp. 291-299.
Libet, B. (2003), “Can Conscious Experience Affect Brain Activity?”, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 10 (12), pp. 24-28.
Libet, B., Gleason, C., Wright, E. y Pearl, D. (1983), “Time of Conscious Intention to Act in Relation to Onset of Cerebral Activities (Readiness Potential): The Unconscious Initiation of a Freely Voluntary Act”, Brain, 106, pp. 623-642.
Montero, B. (2003), “Varieties of Causal Closure”, en Walter, S. y Heckmann, H. D. (eds.) (2003), Physicalism and Mental Causation, Nueva York: Imprint Academic, pp. 173-187.
Montero, B. y Papineau, D. (2005), “A Defence of the via negativa Argument for Physicalism”, Analysis, 65 (3), pp. 233-237.
O’Connor, T. (2009), “Conscious Willing and the Emerging Sciences of Brain and Behavior”, en Ellis, G., Murphy, N. y O’Connor, T. (eds.) (2009), Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will, Nueva York, Springer, pp. 173-186.
O’Regan, K. y Noe, A. (2001), “A Sensorimotor Account of Vision and Visual Consciousness”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24 (5), pp. 883-917.
Oizumi, M, Albantakis, L. y Tononi, G. (2014), “From the Phenomenology to the Mechanisms of Consciousness: Integrated Information Theory 3.0.”, PLoS Comput Biol, 10 (5), pp. 1-25.
Papineau, D. (2001), “The Rise of Physicalism”, en Gillett, C. y Loewer, B. (eds.) (2001), Physicalism and its Discontents, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-36.
Papineau, D. (2002), Thinking about Consciousness, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Penfield, W. (1972), “The Electrode, the Brain and the Mind”, Z. Neurol. 201, pp. 297-309.
Penfield, W. (1975), The Mystery of the Mind: A Critical Study of Consciousness and the Human Brain, Princeton, Princeton University Press.
Pérez, D. (1996), “Variedades de Superveniencia”, Center for Logic, Epistemology and History of Science, XIX (2), pp.165-199.
Pockett, S. y Purdy, S. (2011), “Are Voluntary Movements Initiated Preconsciously? The Relationships between Readiness Potentials, Urges, and Decisions”, en Sinnott-Armstrong, W. y Nadel, L. (eds.) (2011), Conscious Will and Responsibility, Nueva York, Oxford University Press, pp. 34-36.
Ramachandran, V. (1998), citado en “The Zombie Within”, New Scientist, 5 de sept., p. 35.
Seth, A. (2009), “Functions of Consciousness”, en Banks, W. (ed.) (2009), Encyclopedia of Consciousness, Vol. 1, Oxford, Elsevier, pp. 279-293.
Sinnott-Armstrong, W. y Nadel, L. (eds.) (2011), Conscious Will and Responsibility, Nueva York, Oxford University Press.
Soon, C., He, A., Bode, S. y Haynes, J. (2013), “Predicting Free Choices for Abstract Intentions”, Proc Natl Acad Sci, 110, pp. 6217-6222.
Sperry, R. (1991), “In Defense of Mentalism and Emergent Interaction”, The Journal of Mind and Behavior, 12 (2), pp. 221-246.
Spurrett, D. y Papineau, D. (1999), “A Note on the Completeness of Physics”, Analysis, 59 (1), pp. 25-29.
Stoljar, D. (2010), Physicalism, Nueva York, Routledge.
Thompson, E., y Varela, F. J. (2001), “Radical Embodiment: Neural Dynamics and Consciousness”. Trends Cogn Sci, 5 (10), pp. 418-425.
Trevena, J. A. y Miller, J. (2002), “Cortical Movement Preparation before and after a Conscious Decision to Move”, Consciousness and Cognition, 11, pp. 162-190.
Varela, F. y Thompson, E. (2003), “Neural Synchrony and the Unity of Mind: A Neurophenomenological Perspective”, en Cleeremans, A. (ed.) (2003), The Unity of Consciousness, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Varela, F., Thompson, E. y Rosch E. (1991), De cuerpo presente, las ciencias cognitivas y la experiencia humana, Barcelona, Gedisa.
Beck, F. y Eccles, J. (1992), “Quantum Aspects of Brain Activity and the Role of Consciousness”, Proc. Nadl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89, pp. 11357-11361.
Calvin, W. (1989), The Cerebral Symphony: Seashore Reflections on the Structure of Consciousness, Nueva York, Bantam.
Cea, I. (2019, junio), Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness, Emergence and Causal Exclusion. Artículo presentado en la 23a reunión de la Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC), London, Ontario, Canada.
Dennett, D. (2003), Freedom Evolves, Nueva York, Viking Penguin.
Eccles, J. (1982), “How the Self Acts on the Brain”, Psychoneuroendocrinology, 7 (4), pp. 271-283.
Eccles, J. (1985), “Mental Summation: The Timing of Voluntary Intentions by Cortical Activity”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8 (4), pp. 542-543, doi:10.1017/S0140525X00044952
Ellis, G., Murphy, N. y O’Connor, T. (2009), Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will, Nueva York, Springer.
Freeman, W. J. (2000), How Brains Make Up their Minds, Londres, Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Fuster, J. (2015), The Prefrontal Cortex, Londres, Academic Press (Elsevier), 5ª ed.
Gazzaniga, M. (1998), The Mind’s Past, Berkeley, University of California Press.
Gillett, C. y Witmer, D. G. (2001), “A ‘Physical’ Need: Physicalism and the via negative”, Analysis , 61, pp. 302-309.
Goff, P. (2017), Consciousness and Fundamental Reality, Nueva York, Oxford University Press.
Hallett, M. (2009), “Physiology of Volition”, en Ellis, G., Murphy, N. y O’Connor, T. (eds.) (2009), Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will, Nueva York, Springer, pp. 173-186.
Hempel, C. (1980), “Comments on Goodman’s Ways of Worldmaking”, Synthése, 45, pp. 139-199.
Isham, E. (2019, junio), Timing of Intent and Action Consequences in Applied Settings, artículo presentado en la 23a reunión de la Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC), London, Ontario, Canada.
Kim, J. (2005), Physicalism, or Something near Enough, Princeton, Princeton University Press.
Koch, C. (2012), Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist, Massachusetts, The MIT Press.
Lau, H. (2009), “Volition and the Function of Consciousness”, en Ellis, G., Murphy, N. y O’Connor, T. (eds.) (2009), Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will, Nueva York. Springer, pp.173-186.
Libet, B. (1985), “Unconscious Cerebral Initiative and the Role of Conscious Will in Voluntary Action”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8, pp. 529-566.
Libet, B. (1999), “Do We Have Free Will?”, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6 (8-9), pp. 47-57.
Libet, B. (2002), “The Timing of Mental Events: Libet’s Experimental Findings and their Implications”, Consciousness and Cognition, 11, pp. 291-299.
Libet, B. (2003), “Can Conscious Experience Affect Brain Activity?”, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 10 (12), pp. 24-28.
Libet, B., Gleason, C., Wright, E. y Pearl, D. (1983), “Time of Conscious Intention to Act in Relation to Onset of Cerebral Activities (Readiness Potential): The Unconscious Initiation of a Freely Voluntary Act”, Brain, 106, pp. 623-642.
Montero, B. (2003), “Varieties of Causal Closure”, en Walter, S. y Heckmann, H. D. (eds.) (2003), Physicalism and Mental Causation, Nueva York: Imprint Academic, pp. 173-187.
Montero, B. y Papineau, D. (2005), “A Defence of the via negativa Argument for Physicalism”, Analysis, 65 (3), pp. 233-237.
O’Connor, T. (2009), “Conscious Willing and the Emerging Sciences of Brain and Behavior”, en Ellis, G., Murphy, N. y O’Connor, T. (eds.) (2009), Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will, Nueva York, Springer, pp. 173-186.
O’Regan, K. y Noe, A. (2001), “A Sensorimotor Account of Vision and Visual Consciousness”, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24 (5), pp. 883-917.
Oizumi, M, Albantakis, L. y Tononi, G. (2014), “From the Phenomenology to the Mechanisms of Consciousness: Integrated Information Theory 3.0.”, PLoS Comput Biol, 10 (5), pp. 1-25.
Papineau, D. (2001), “The Rise of Physicalism”, en Gillett, C. y Loewer, B. (eds.) (2001), Physicalism and its Discontents, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-36.
Papineau, D. (2002), Thinking about Consciousness, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Penfield, W. (1972), “The Electrode, the Brain and the Mind”, Z. Neurol. 201, pp. 297-309.
Penfield, W. (1975), The Mystery of the Mind: A Critical Study of Consciousness and the Human Brain, Princeton, Princeton University Press.
Pérez, D. (1996), “Variedades de Superveniencia”, Center for Logic, Epistemology and History of Science, XIX (2), pp.165-199.
Pockett, S. y Purdy, S. (2011), “Are Voluntary Movements Initiated Preconsciously? The Relationships between Readiness Potentials, Urges, and Decisions”, en Sinnott-Armstrong, W. y Nadel, L. (eds.) (2011), Conscious Will and Responsibility, Nueva York, Oxford University Press, pp. 34-36.
Ramachandran, V. (1998), citado en “The Zombie Within”, New Scientist, 5 de sept., p. 35.
Seth, A. (2009), “Functions of Consciousness”, en Banks, W. (ed.) (2009), Encyclopedia of Consciousness, Vol. 1, Oxford, Elsevier, pp. 279-293.
Sinnott-Armstrong, W. y Nadel, L. (eds.) (2011), Conscious Will and Responsibility, Nueva York, Oxford University Press.
Soon, C., He, A., Bode, S. y Haynes, J. (2013), “Predicting Free Choices for Abstract Intentions”, Proc Natl Acad Sci, 110, pp. 6217-6222.
Sperry, R. (1991), “In Defense of Mentalism and Emergent Interaction”, The Journal of Mind and Behavior, 12 (2), pp. 221-246.
Spurrett, D. y Papineau, D. (1999), “A Note on the Completeness of Physics”, Analysis, 59 (1), pp. 25-29.
Stoljar, D. (2010), Physicalism, Nueva York, Routledge.
Thompson, E., y Varela, F. J. (2001), “Radical Embodiment: Neural Dynamics and Consciousness”. Trends Cogn Sci, 5 (10), pp. 418-425.
Trevena, J. A. y Miller, J. (2002), “Cortical Movement Preparation before and after a Conscious Decision to Move”, Consciousness and Cognition, 11, pp. 162-190.
Varela, F. y Thompson, E. (2003), “Neural Synchrony and the Unity of Mind: A Neurophenomenological Perspective”, en Cleeremans, A. (ed.) (2003), The Unity of Consciousness, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Varela, F., Thompson, E. y Rosch E. (1991), De cuerpo presente, las ciencias cognitivas y la experiencia humana, Barcelona, Gedisa.